Nelly's

1899	Elli Sougioultzoglou was born in Aydin, in Asia Minor.
1920	Fine Arts and Music studies in Dresden, Germany.
1921	Photography studies with Hugo Erfurth and Frantz Fiedler.
1923	Her first photographs were published in Germany. She decided to drop her painting studies and dedicate herself to photography.
1924	Moved to Athens, where she planned to stay permanently.
1925	Opened her first studio in Athens, on Ermou Street. She photographed Mona Paeva in the nude on the Acropolis.
1926	After an order placed by the Near East Relief Foundation (N.Y.), she photographed the Greek refugees from Asia Minor.
1927	She photographed the Delphic Festival organized by Eve and Angelos Sikelianos.
1929	The photos of Mona Paeva were published in the French magazine "Illustration" and a storm of reactions by conservative archaelogists and journalists followed. She was supported by imminent writers and painters. That year, she photographed the Hungarian dancer Nikolska, again on the Acropolis.
1930	She photographed the Delphic Festival again and exhibited a large thematic collection of photos on the old city of Athens.
1936	She photographed the Berlin Olympic Games. She followed lectures at Dr. Johanes Herzog's studio in Hemelingen, near Bremen.
1939	Prepared large photos for the Greek stand at the New York International Fair. She visited the White House and offered an album of photos from Greece to Eleanor Roosevelt. World War II broke out: Nelly's stayed in the USA for 27 years, instead of 30 days.
1940	The Metropolitan Museum of New York bought a series of her photos. She exhibited at the O'Tool Gallery in New York and at the Buffalo Archeological Museum. December's Life magazine was published with one of her photos on the cover page. She opened her studio at 57th Street, between 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue in New York.
1940-44	She organized exhibitions, bazaars and lectures on Greece. She was characterized as an unofficial ambassador of Greece to the USA.
1947	A series of photos with Greek faces was published in Life magazine.
1953	She followed the Photojournalism School. She Created the "New York Easter Parade"
1954-65	She exhibited and participated in several group events in New York. She returned to Greece and retired from professional activities.
1987	The Benakis Museum, which houses the most substantial part of her work, presented a retrospective exhibition at the Moraitis School in Athens. Her album "Nelly's: Santorini 1925-1930" was published.
1989	Publication of her "Self Portrait"
1990	She was invited to participate in exhibitions at the Koeln Museum in Germany and also in Barcelona, Spain.
1991	Publication of an album of her work by the Agricultural Bank of Greece
1992	Publication of "Creta Faces" with her photos; exhibition at Barcelona, Spain, within the framework of the Cultural Olympics
1993	The exhibition Nelly's Greece: Photographs 1921-1939 is organised by the Photographic Archive of the Benaki Museum and the Cultural Centre of the Cyprus Popular Bank and held in Nicosia. A catalogue by the same title is published.
1994	The exhibition Nelly's Photographs of Greece, 1924-1939 is held at the Miranda Gallery, Hydra. Publication of The Marousi Pottery of 1930 in 46 Photographs by Nelly, a book with texts by Ioannis Ioannou, and of Nelly's: A Glance at Urban Occupations in the Inter-War period, edited by Michel Fleisch (Gavriilidis Books).
1995	The President of the Hellenic Republic appoints Nelly Commander of the Order of the Phoenix. Angelos Seraidaris, A Photographic Itinerary on Mount Athos, 1935, is published by the Athonite Photolibrary and the Benaki Museum.
1996	The Academy of Athens awards Nelly its Prize for the Arts and Letters. An exhibition entitled Nelly's Greece: Photographs 1923-1939, organised by the Photographic Archive of the Benaki Museum, is held at Chania in Crete. The Benaki Museum and Gnosi Books publish the album Nelly's: The Old City of Athens, with Notes of Introduction and Interpretation by G.D. Kambouroglou.
1997	An exhibition entitled Greece in the Inter-War Period through the Lens of Nelly's Camera, organised by the Photographic Archive of the Benaki Museum and the 'Friends of the Arts' Association, is held at the Iosifogleio Building, Nea Smyrni. An exhibition entitled Nelly's: The Body and Dance, organised by the Kalamata International Dance Centre and the Benaki Museum, is held in Kalamata. A catalogue by the same title is published in association with the Agra and Ammos publishing companies. Nelly contributes photographs to the Itineraries of the Gaze exhibition, presented at the Vasilis and Eliza Goulandris Contemporary Art Museum on Andros. An exhibition entitled Nelly's, From Athens to New York, A Retrospective Exhibition of the work of Elli Seraidari, supported by the the Benaki Museum and the J.F.Costopoulos Foundation, is held at the International Center of Photography, in New York.
17 Aug. 1998	Nelly dies in Athens.